Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Out with the Saints, In with the Bucs: New England Patriots Prep for Week Four — 9/28/2021

Episode Date: September 29, 2021

As the New England Patriots attempt to put their 28-13 loss to the New Orleans Saints behind them, they must loo at several areas in need of improvement. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Steve Balestrieri of PatsFans.com. The duo discuss the injury to running back James White, as well as the phases of the game most in need of improvement. Lastly, Steve looks ahead to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the emotional impact of the return of Tom Brady to New England.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful. You are now locked into the Lockdown Patriots podcast. It is Tuesday, September 28th, 2021, and it is time for a visit from our resident voice of reason here on Lockdown Patriots. Welcome to the pod, Patriots fans, and thank you for joining me here on this Tuesday episode. My name is Mike DeBate and I cover your New England Patriots for Patriot Maven of Sports Illustrated. I am also your host of the Locked On Patriots podcast, which of course is a proud

part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And folks, because it's your team every day, that means your questions, comments, and feedback are always welcomed and very much appreciated. So share that feedback. Send it to the internet by reaching out to me and following me on Twitter at MDABATENFL. And while you're out there doing some Tuesday traveling through the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well

at LO underscore Patriots. Patriots fans, as the image of the 28-13 loss to the New Orleans Saints in Week 3 starts to shrink in the rearview mirror, it's almost time to transition our thoughts to Tampa Bay and the return of Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, and the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers as they prepare to storm the Foxborough Fortress on Sunday evening, October 3rd, 8.20 p.m., Foxborough, Massachusetts, Gillette Stadium. The Pats and Bucs hooking it up on Sunday night football. And the saturation of coverage, both with Brady and the Bucs and with Belichick and the Patriots, has already reached a fever pitch.

And here on Locked on Patriots, we will definitely give it its just due. But there's still some things to iron out from the Patriots' Week 3 loss, including what this team needs to do to rebound quickly in order to be able to hang with the defending Super Bowl champs. Luckily for us today here on Locked On Patriots, our resident voice of reason has stopped by to lend his wisdom and counsel on exactly what the Patriots ailments are and what it's going to take to fix them.

It's Tuesday, meaning that our resident voice of reason, Steve Balistrieri, my Patriots bison, is my guest today here on Locked on Patriots. And first and foremost, we'll talk about the injury to James White, what his diagnosis likely means for the rest of the season, and who will have to pick up the slack in his absence. We'll also continue to talk about the Patriots' 28-13 loss to the Saints on Sunday, what were some of the things that alarmed Steve most, and what is the absolute one thing the Patriots have to fix if they hope to hang with the Bucs on Sunday night. Last but certainly not least, per contractual obligation, just kidding folks, but it wouldn't be an appearance here on Brady Week without asking Steve his favorite memories on Tom and on Rob Gronkowski and what he expects to see from an action standpoint when these two teams do battle in Foxborough on Sunday, October 3rd. An action-packed agenda, tons to get to on the pod today, so without further ado, or

much further ado, I prepare to welcome in my Patriots Paisan, the resident voice of reason when this Tuesday episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Hello again, Patriots fans. This is Mike DeBate with an incredible app everyone who buys gas needs to know about. Get Upside. My listeners are making up to 25 cents for every gallon of gas every time they fill up. Just download the free GetUpside app in the App Store or Google Play right now. Use promo code TOUCHDOWN and get a bonus 25 cents per gallon on your first fill up. That's up to 50 cents cash back. Don't pay full price at the

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code NFL100. From football, basketball, boxing, right to your favorite Vegas casino games, don't wait to take advantage of all the amazing offers available for the 2021 season. Bet online, the fastest and easiest way to bet all of your favorite sports. Bet online. Your online sportsbook experts. Pats fans, it is almost time for the Saints to go marching out of your collective consciousness as we continue to break down the Patriots' 28-13 loss to the Saints on Sunday. But take a look ahead to Brady and the Bucs invading Foxborough this Sunday, October 3rd.

Luckily for us here on Locked On, Patriots, here today to help us do both is our resident voice of reason, one of the best, most knowledgeable columnists that you'll find anywhere in Patriots media. You know his great work from Patsfans.com, as well as being the co-host of not one, but two amazing podcasts, Patriots fourth and two and one Patriots place. He is my Patriots by Zahn. And despite of what he'll tell you, and I know I say it every week, but can't help it.

It's the truth. He is worthy of all the praise he gets. And then some my good friend, Steve Balistrieri joins me here on the pod today. Welcome back to locked on Patriots, my friend, and thank you so much for joining me. Well, sorry about the slight technical difficulties we had this morning, but hey, we're getting it done, and I don't know how much of a voice or reason I'm going to be today. My good buddy Claire, who we do the podcast with, Claire told me I was too negative today because I gave her tight ends of big fat F in my positional grade.

So she's a little perturbed with me. Yeah, I can probably see that. And, you know, bottom line, though, voice of reason doesn't always necessarily mean that it's all sunshine and rainbows. It does mean that you're giving us your honest opinion. You're giving us that reason that we need to be able to move forward. So if your opinion is a little negative, I will say this. But I think you have a lot of company in Fox right now that would agree with you. But at the same time, you know, we need to hear it. It's

honest. And that's what we love having you on. That's why we love having you here. It really is about you lending your wisdom and counsel, buddy, the way only you can. And Steve, we're going to get to Sunday's debacle in just a moment, because I do want to get your thoughts on this. And we'll talk a little bit about what the Patriots need to improve upon. And we're even going to sprinkle in a little Brady talk, folks because it is tom brady week and of course rob brankowski too a lot of people forget that grok is making his homecoming alongside tom we'll talk about that in just a minute but the unfortunate news of the week without any question is the injury to james white and steve you know, we saw on Sunday when it happened,

he went down, you saw the cart immediately come out. All of this never adds up to anything positive. And obviously, from the diagnosis and from the reports from yesterday, both from Ian Rappaport and Mike Giardi, we now know that it didn't go well. White undergoing further tests reportedly suffered a subluxation of the hip, and this is an injury that is going to keep him out for the foreseeable future. It could have further implications, but I'll leave that to the medical experts to explain far better than I can exactly what this means for James's long-term health. We'll talk about the impact on the field. Not only are you losing one of the more reliable offensive weapons that the Patriots have at their disposal this year,

their leading pass catcher heading into week three, six passes, six targets, 45 yards. He's also ran the ball five times for 20 yards and a rushing touchdown. That's going to be hard to replicate on the field. But in addition to that, Steve, you're talking about the loss of a team captain, someone that has been there, done that. He's won championships. He's motivated players to get better effort and to do what they need to do to get back

on track. And let's face it, bud, this is a Patriots team that needs to get back on track at one and two. They're facing a very difficult opponent this week. And, you know, right now in Foxborough, there's a lot of uneasiness amongst the fan base. So when you look at the loss of James White, what does this mean for the Patriots, not just logistically on the field, but also from a behind the scenes standpoint in terms of what this guy brings to the locker room? Oh, I think it's a devastating loss for the Patriots. I mean, you know,

as you said, he's like a great guy. He's one of the leaders in the locker room. He's just a fantastic veteran presence to have. And then you talk about his on field, you know, production that he has, he's probably the best pass blocker of all the running backs. He's so reliable. He has tremendous hands in the passing game.

And, you know, we talked about it just last week and, you know, how this is such a great thing for a rookie quarterback to have at his disposal, this guy, you know, coming out of the backfield that catches the ball and, you know, he's so reliable. I think it's really going to hurt the passing game. You know, hopefully they'll have some guys be able to step up. But, you know, you just don't replace a guy like James White. I think this is going to be a really, really big loss for them.

Yeah, without question. So well said. And, you know, the thing that I really have always admired about James, and there's a lot to admire about him, he's not only one of the most genuine, most down to earth, and one of the easiest guys to talk to on the Patriots roster in terms of his availability and his candidness with the media, but also just a genuine good person. And obviously you root for a guy like that. There's no question.

You want to send your well wishes, your prayers, if you believe in that, for him to get better and for him to recover fully and that he'll be able to come back strong from this. But from a logistical standpoint as well, just the abilities that he brings on the field. And I mentioned the statistics that he's amassed this season so far, probably not going to wow anyone right off the bat. But when

you take a look at the dual threat nature of the way this kid plays the game, really becoming a favorite target of Mac Jones, both as a receiver and a runner, it's going to be tough to replicate that. And Sonny Michel is in Los Angeles now, and the patriots now have to rely on damian harris jj taylor brandon bolden and murph and i joked yesterday about ramondre stevenson being taken off of the belichickian double secret probation and dean wormer putting the foot down and all that but um they may have to rely on ramondre maybe a little bit sooner rather than later uh in order to maybe quell some of the difficulties that the Patriots face in the running game. Of course, we saw the earlier reports today coming out from numerous sources, Tom Palacero, Adam Schefter, that Marlon Mack of the Indianapolis Colts may be on the trading block. I wrote about this a little earlier today for Sports Illustrated

that the Patriots may want to kick the tires there. It's not a like for like fit, but Mac is someone who has the capabilities of being a power runner, being a finesse runner, and he can also get out and receive out of the backfield. And he's very good at accumulating first down. So maybe the Patriots make a move to try to bring someone in if long-term IR or season ending IR is the eventual destination for James White. We hope not. It's looking that way, but it hasn't been confirmed yet, folks, at least at the time Steve and I are talking right now. So we wish James White the very best and hope that he's able to rebound. He had a very tough year last year, went through an extremely excruciating time personally, and now for something like this to affect what was supposed to be a happy year

and a great reunion for he and the Patriots, once again, it's disheartening to see. There's no question about it. So on behalf of Lockdown Patriots, myself, Steve Balistrieri. James, if you're listening, get well, my friend. We hope to see you back on the field sooner rather than later. Well, Steve, on that note, you know, I mentioned the Murph today. Do you think this opens up an avenue for a guy like Malcolm Perry? I think it's very possible. Look, Perry is someone that is kind of enigmatic when it comes to a lot of the fan base. Not a lot of people are very adept as to what he can do and his prowess on the field. But I would definitely encourage some of you to go and take a look at some of the YouTube clips of this kid as a Navy midshipman.

He's got the capabilities to be really a threat all over the field. He played quarterback. He's someone who could drop back if the Patriots want to try a little trickery uh that's a possibility as well uh you know josh mcdaniel's going to want to do some interesting things uh you know this weekend against the the tampa bay buccaneers perry is eligible to come off of ir so a lot of people may um be under the impression that it's assumedly going to be nikhil harry but perry could find his way onto this roster as well. And if he does, he does have that threat to be able to play quarterback, but most effectively wide receiver running back. These are two positions that I think he'll be more utilized in and special teams as well. So that's an interesting point. One, I'm glad that you made and, you know, definitely, uh, I know Belichick would love to get a Navy guy in there. Sorry, Steve, but I know he

would. And, uh, but I know he would. And you know that he's going to be trying to pull out all the stops because the Patriots have a very, very tall task looming large in Foxborough on Sunday night. And we'll get to that in just a moment. But the injury to James White wasn't the only unfortunate thing that happened on the field for the Patriots on Sunday. Unfortunately for the Patriots, not much went right. And Murph and I discussed this a little bit yesterday. Folks, if you haven't had a chance to check that conversation out, encourage you to go back, take a listen to what Murph and I had to say in our game recap. But Steve, you always bring a fresh approach to things that have happened on the field. I know you always like to take second,

third looks at what went on and try to determine whether or not the Patriots made the right move here or didn't make the right move there. When you look back now, almost 48 hours removed from Sunday's game and Sunday's loss, what were your takeaways from this one? And what did you see from the Patriots that may give you concern as the as the Pats head into uh the second uh well as the Pats head into the remainder of the season now at that one and two you know they're making so many uncharacteristic mistakes and you know you're seeing you know ball security issues miscommunication on the offensive line, miscommunication in the secondary with the linebackers, you know,

uncharacteristic special teams mistakes all over the place. And these are the kind of things that we always hang our hat on. You know, we're coming into the season. We thought, hey, they're going to rely on the defense. They're going to rely on that offensive line in the running game. And, you know, they'll be able to survive until Mac Jones finds his feet. Well, all of the things that we thought of as a positive haven't been working out for the past, you know, the first three weeks of the season.

You know, I'm looking at the coaching staff as like, you know, they're not putting these guys in a good position to play right now because that's what concerns me is the uncharacteristic mistakes that scream that they're not prepared. And, you know, when I look at the special teams on Sunday, all the mistakes that were made, it just astounds me. And plus the fact that the offensive line is really not doing a good job keeping Mac Jones upright. I mean, he's been hit far too many times in the first three weeks of the season. Yeah. Oh, without any question. And we asked Josh McDaniels about this earlier on Tuesday when the media spoke with him about Josh being hit.

And he says, you know, I really would prefer him not getting hit at all. I mean, obviously, he's being tongue in cheek. You can't obviously play the quarterback position without getting a hit or two on you. But when you're hit 11 times and consistently under pressure the way Mack has been, especially in the two losses that he suffered, it's difficult for any quarterback to be able to muddle through, but let alone a rookie quarterback that's trying to find his footing. And now you're looking at a game and you're looking at a situation that is going to amp up the pressure,

amp up the eyes that are going to be on him and the publicity that's going to be surrounding this one. It's going to be a tough day for Mack. But at the same time, there is a lot within this kid's makeup that leads me to believe that the moment will not get too big for him, but bottom line, he needs to be protected better. And you hit the nail right on the head when it comes to the uncharacteristic problems that the Patriots seem to be having, ball security issues, problems on special teams, not just the Jake Bailey block punt folks. There were also coverage issues that this team is enduring on a weekly basis. Things that you just don't see from a Bill Belichick,

a New England Patriots team that is really sound in all three facets. A lot needs to be fastened up, and time is running thin to be able to do it. It's not a must-win situation for the season, but if you're looking at a 1-win situation for the season, but if you're looking at a one-in-three start after the end of this week, things are going to start to get very interesting in Foxborough. That spotlight's going to get brighter, and that hot seat's going to get hotter. Not that Bill Belichick's job is in jeopardy, folks. That's not what I meant by that, but there will start to be chums smelled in the water by a lot of the

sharks that are swimming around this team right now. And, you know, for lack of a better term, the Patriots will have an even bigger hole. But not all is lost, folks, because believe it or not, this might be a winnable game on Sunday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And our resident voice of reason is going to let me know whether he agrees with that statement or whether he doesn't, because he is going to also provide his insight on what the Patriots need to shore up if they hope to contend and maybe even take a win away from the field on Sunday night in Foxborough. We'll also get Steve's memories on Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, and what the Buccaneers matchup means, all when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Locked On listeners, when it comes to repairing or maintaining your vehicle,

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Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need. RockAuto.com. Folks, Steve Balistrieri, my Patriots Paisan, the resident voice of reason here on Locked On Patriots, joins me here on Tuesday to lend a thicket of intellectualism, I guess is the best way for me to put it, taking a reasonable, insightful approach to the New England Patriots season, because so many people are ready to either throw in the towel or they just want to argue about Brady Belichick or Pat's Twitter is a mess right now. Let's face it. I'll include social media because Instagram and Facebook, they kind of all meld into one, Bud. But you always take the approach

that I think fans, media, everyone should take. And that's the reasonable one. That is the level headed approach. And in the earlier segment, Bud, we talked a little bit about what the Patriots did wrong on Sunday and what seemed to keep plaguing this team and why they continue to have the problems that they're having. And you identified quite a few areas that are really designated for improvement. The Patriots need to shore up run pass protection. They need to maybe be a little bit better in coverage on the outside when it comes to, you know, the secondary, maybe get a little bit more aggressive,

go after the quarterback a little on defense, get the pass catchers involved in third down and red zone situations and really test what they can do. Steve, when you look at this team as a whole, and especially the tough matchup that they have coming up on Sunday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, if you're Bill Belichick and the Patriots brain trust, you know you have a lot to work on, but what's the one thing you cannot go into Sunday's matchup continuing to do if you want to try to win this game? I think it has to be the offensive line because this is your quarterback of the future. He's now the quarterback of the present. You have to do a better job of protecting him. Otherwise, he's not going to make it through his rookie season.

I think that's the number one thing. I mean, you look at this Tampa team, they're banged up in their secondary right now. We saw the Rams. Now, I'm not comparing the Rams receivers and skill position guys to the Patriots, but we saw the Rams find a lot of open space to work in. Those can be there, but you have to protect your quarterback.

I think that's number one. Everything else can fall by the wayside this week, but you have to protect that quarterback and let him spread things out and work down the field without getting hit every time he goes back. Yeah, without any question, I completely agree with you. I know that there have been a lot of armchair quarterback comments this week about people saying, well, it's not only the offensive line. And I do completely agree with that, by the way.

I'm not saying that's an inaccurate assessment. It isn't. It's not all about the protection just by the offensive line and I do completely agree with that by the way I'm not saying that's an inaccurate assessment it isn't it's not all about the protection just by the old line there's past protection problems when it comes to running backs making blocks tight ends making blocks everybody's going to do a better job of getting protection to keep Mac Jones upright and comfortable in the pocket but at the same time that right side of the offensive line has been a liability. They're losing matchups. Pressure is accumulating as a result. Justin Heron is not quite up to the challenge of being what Trent Brown is, not that many people would be. I'm not really knocking Justin when it comes to that

because I do think the guy is playing to the maximum of his ability and giving it everything he has. But it's a lot to be able to live up to those expectations of replacing someone like Trent Brown. And it hasn't only been the right side. I wrote about this a little bit yesterday on a couple of different occasions. That left side has been a little bit of a liability as well. And it surprises me to include Isaiah Wynn on some of these players to watch or players

that are underachieving when it comes to this type of environment. Isaiah's looked a little bit slow getting out of the box. He doesn't quite have that push out of his stance. And as a result, he's not getting the same type of aggressive pass protection that we've seen him get before. So Patriots really need to shore that up and they need to be able to protect because that front seven of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can get after the quarterback. They can pretty much get after anybody. We've seen them do it all of last year. They're continuing to do it this year.

Yeah, the secondary is a little bit banged up. They may catch a little bit of a break this weekend. Obviously, Jamel Dean, he is looking iffy for this game. Sean Murphy Bunting obviously is on IR. We know we're not going to see him. It's one of the reasons why Richard Sherman is in Tampa Bay as we speak. Keep in mind, folks, at the time Steve and I are talking, signing hasn't been made official yet. But if they do end up bringing him in, that's the reason why. They do need some help in the secondary.

So there's something to be had there. That's where the Patriots may look to attack. And we'll continue to talk about that as the week progresses. But before I let you go today, my friend, it's contractual obligation for me to ask all of our guests this week here about your favorite Tom Brady slash Rob Gronkowski memories here in New England. Because I almost feel like Rob is the forgotten man in all this.

Everybody's talking Tom coming back and is, you know, butting heads with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady senior, you know, and the damn rights and all that. And, you know, Alex Guerrero chiming in and Bill and Tom kind of going back and forth. But Rob is on his way back here, too. This is going to be an emotional night, an emotional week for all of Patriots Nation as two of the most beloved players that ever put on this uniform are going to come back wearing the uniform of another team. Something that not a lot of Patriots fans ever thought they would see, myself included. I really, right up until that fateful St. Patrick's Day in 2020, thought Tom Brady would be a Patriot for life.

Steve, when you look at this matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, what type of emotions does this stir up for you when it comes to Tom and Rob coming back? And what type of action do you think we're going to see on the field on Sunday? Well, you know, it's going to be conflicting because, you know, we've rooted for Tom Brady for over 20 years. And now he's coming back and, you know, he's wearing the uniform of a different team. So I look forward to the fans welcoming both him and Gronkowski, because Gronk spent 10 years here. He was phenomenal as well.

There's so many huge memories. Sitting in the stands there at Gillette, I could fill up two hours' worth of your show on memories of games and plays that they've made. There's just too many to count. But, you know, what they meant to the fan base, I really hope to see the fans welcome them back. You know, I'm sure the team will show some kind of a film

When they take the field to, you know, welcome them back And some of their highlights And then, of course, the fans are going to be rooting for New England to win And at some point during the night Probably fairly early Tom Brady's going to pass through Breeze, regular season record. Brady already holds the all-time record for yards throwing. And I really hope to see them stop the game as they did for Breeze

and for Peyton Manning and, you know, recognize his accomplishments. And I hope the fan base doesn't boom at that point. Let's just, you know, do the right thing here. But, you know, I'm looking forward to seeing how Belichick is going to try to, you know, defend. I mean, these two guys know each other explicitly. Brady knows this Patriot off defense, excuse me, you know, explicitly. I mean, he practiced against it for 20 years.

So he knows. Belichick knows Brady's strengths and weaknesses. So this is going to be the ultimate chess match. Are the Patriots up to it? I'm not so sure right now. But, you know, wouldn't that make a great headline on Monday? Oh, it will. It absolutely will. Who won the chess match? Was it Bill that's playing chess

when everyone else is playing checkers, or did Tom get the last laugh? It's going to be interesting to say. Tom kind of alluded to this in his appearance on the Let's Go podcast with Jim Gray the other night, where he said, I know what the wind is going to be like. I know what they're going to do. I know their tendencies. I know how they're going to prepare. I know what's going to be said in the locker room. That's not being, I had some feedback from some fans and people that, you know, I interact with on a daily basis that thought that was a little arrogant or cocky of Tom Brady. It wasn't. If you listen to the context and the

way it was presented, it's conflicting. In the context of it and knowing how he said it, he was being very honest. In other words, I was there for 20 years. I can anticipate what they're going to do. Ultimately, they're going to try to confuse me. And that's going to be where the real game plan begins. But if you look at some of the social media clips that are out there, it makes it sound like I know exactly what he's going to do. I'm going to be ready for it. And I'm going to get them. That's not how Tom meant it. And I think in a lot of ways, you're seeing the dichotomy and coverage from a lot of sources throughout the league, both local and national. And some of it's disheartening. Some of it has been good. But in any case, it will be interesting without any question about it when these two teams take the field. And I agree with you, that emotion will be high. I'm glad that you mentioned the passing of Drew Brees' all-time

passing record. That is something that will take place in Foxborough. You can't imagine Tom Brady leaving with less than 100 yards passing, and he will get that record. And I do believe that the Patriots will do their due diligence in terms of making that moment special for Tom, and I do think that the fans will do everything that they can to make that moment special for him as well. This is someone that gave 100% of his blood, sweat and tears every single day.

He took the field here in New England for 20 seasons, really vaulted this franchise into excellence alongside what Robert Kraft did to assemble the team and what Bill Belichick has done to coach the team and assemble the players on the field all of these years. Tom Brady was an indelible part of that. You don't have the success here that New England had without Tom Brady. And I think the fans know that there's anybody booing him at that point or anywhere really throughout the game, other than just to cheer on their own team. Really, you're not doing things correctly. I'm sorry, folks. It's just not. Cheer your team. Want the Patriots to beat the Buccaneers. But if you're booing Tom Brady individually, yeah, I mean, it's your right to do so. But let's just say I don't agree with it. So, but it's going to be fun. And I already can't wait to start breaking this one down with you again next week, because I have a funny feeling that the storylines of this one are just beginning, folks.

And here on Locked On, Patriots will continue to talk about this all week long. But Tuesdays are our visit from our resident voice of reason. And I could not be more honored and more humble to share the microphone with this man each and every Tuesday. But what can I say? Thank you for stopping by the pod today and lending all of your level-headed wisdom and counsel. Before I let you go today, my friend friend please let everyone know where they can find you on social media interact with you and what you have coming in the days and weeks uh from the great pen

and the great voice of steve balistrieri well thanks again mike um you know it's always a pleasure to talk football with you i I miss doing it in person. Absolutely. You know, you can find me on social media, at SpeedB7SFG on Twitter. You know, I write for PatsFans.com. We do the podcast, as you mentioned. And I'm going to be looking at, is there a way for the Patriots to pull this, you know, big upset on Brady and the bucks this week?

Let me say this. It's going to take a lot of burning the midnight oil this week. Yeah, it will. It's going to take a lot. Yeah. It's going to be a long, you know,

week for a preparation for this team, and it's going to take an awful lot of things to go right and an awful lot of game planning to finally click in order for this one to happen. So difficult, but not impossible. So you know what, bud? We'll continue to monitor that, and we'll definitely be talking about it next week as we even start to look ahead beyond that and start to take a look at what the Patriots have coming down

the pike after the Bucs game. But in the meantime continue to stay safe and well and we look forward to talking ball with you here right here next week again on Locked on Patriots. Thank you so much my friend. Just like that Patriots fans we're almost halfway through your work week and one day closer to the Patriots-Buccaneers Sunday night football matchup coming up this Sunday on October 3rd. Tons still to cover here on Locked on Patriots all week long.

So to ensure that you do not miss a single second of any of the action, download, subscribe to, and follow the Locked On Patriots podcast on platforms such as Spotify, the Odyssey app, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. Just make sure that you are staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. Remember, Locked On Patriots is free and available on all platforms. So be sure to make us your first listen each and every day when it comes to your Patriots coverage.

Once again, I'm Mike DeBate. I thank my good friend Steve Balistrieri for his time, his insight, and his appearance on today's pod. But most of all, I thank you so much for listening and for continuing to make Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Until tomorrow, Foxborough faithful, stay safe, stay well, be the change you wish to see in the world.

Have a great day, everyone.